Opportunities beyond the classroom

Studying Quechua at Penn opens an wide range of opportunities that go beyond the classroom: students have gotten involved in research initiatives such as the conference “Thinking Andean Studies“, Andean Research Proseminars in Cusco, Quechua Student Annual meetings. All of these initiatives were developed here at the University of Pennsylvania. Therefore, taking Quechua at Penn offers an opportunity to engage with a unique cultural experience.

Taking Quechua at Penn is also an invitation to rethink the way on how to approach Latin American and Latino Studies by embracing Americas’ Indigenous Languages and Cultures not as a peripheral aspect to learn, but as a core factor in the curricula. Graduate Students and undergraduate students are now more aware of the importance on this narrative shift.

The development of an interdisciplinary network of scholars working in the growing field of Andean Studies

We aim to help foster a mentoring relationship between established and emerging scholars interesting in the Andes and/or Native American languages.

– In November 2015 and 2016 we organized the Quechua Alliance Faculty and Student Meeting, the first gathering of its type in the United States. One of the goals of the event was to promote an open conversation about Native-American languages and their space in academia. We also had time for dialogue, lectures, games and songs.

Promoting a more diverse college experience at Penn

Former Quechua students have received advise and support to created organizations that celebrate and promote Andean Culture on campus: Andean Representation (undergraduates) and Quechua Penn (graduate students).